When The Beatles were initially signed to a major label, recognising the market waiting to embrace the band, their record deal locked them into writing, on average, two albums worth of material every year. This seems like a bit much, but it is a huge testament to the songwriting ability of Paul McCartney, who was responsible for a number of the songs written for The Beatles and didn’t let up on quality despite having such a significant number to satisfy.
Of course, while writing such a massive range of different songs, there were a number of tracks that Paul McCartney finished but then couldn’t envision The Beatles playing. There is a consistent tone throughout when you listen to all of their albums, be it Sgt Pepper, The White Album or Abbey Road. Subsequently, if a song was written that could hold its own but that wasn’t a fit for whatever The Beatles were working on, McCartney was always keen to give the track away.
The result is that he has a number of songwriting credits across different styles of music for different people. There are a lot of artists he worked with on multiple occasions, and then there are others to whom he only gave the occasional track. Not surprisingly, though, given these are songs written by Paul McCartney, the majority of them are pretty excellent.
While he gave away many tracks to various artists, this list will focus on his best five.
The best songs Paul McCartney gave away:
5. Charlotte Gainsbourg – ‘Songbird In A Cage’
Granted, this track wasn’t written when Paul McCartney was in The Beatles; however, the fact he can still produce music of such quality in 2017 is a testament to his ability as a writer. The piece was recorded and released by Charlotte Gainsbourg as a part of her album Rest, which was produced by the French musician SebastiAn.
It took Gainsbourg a while to feel comfortable releasing the track, as she sat on it for six years before giving it to the public. After meeting McCartney for lunch, she asked if he had any songs he wasn’t planning on releasing, after which he sent her the demo for the track.
“I kept it in a drawer until I was working with SebastiAn,” she said. “I showed him the demo and asked if we could make it a part of this record. We had to change the sound and style of it for it to fit in, then he sent that new demo to Paul… He recorded bass and some piano. It was just wonderful!”
4. The Rolling Stones – ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’
John Lennon and Paul McCartney originally developed this track as a showcase for Ringo Starr. In the process, they bumped into Andrew Oldham, the manager of The Rolling Stones. He invited the duo to The Stones’ rehearsal space, where they finished the track and gifted it to the Stones to record.
The Beatles still released their own version of the track on With The Beatles, but The Rolling Stones’ version came out three weeks before people heard The Beatle’s rendition. “I haven’t heard it for ages, but it must be pretty freaky ‘cause nobody really produced it,” said Mick Jagger when talking about the track, “It was completely crackers, but it was a hit and sounded great onstage.”
3. Cilla Black – ‘It’s For You’
In 1964, Cilla Black had a top ten hit in the UK with her track ‘It’s For You’. The song is a sweet-sounding waltzing number that is perfect for the power that Cilla Black has in her voice. There is no denying her lyrical magnitude as she delivers on every single line.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney initially wrote the song; however, it is considered predominantly a Paul McCartney number. At the start of a 2003 remaster of the track, Lennon introduces the song as an old clip of him playing where he says, “Hello, this is John Lennon of The Beatles. We’d like to play you a song now that Paul and I have just written especially for Cilla Black. A beautiful girl, a beautiful singer. Hope you like it, here it is, it’s called, ‘It’s For You’.”
2. Rod Stewart – ‘Mine For Me’
The soft acoustic guitar on this song, paired with Rod Stewart’s beautiful pining vocals, is a match made in heaven. It sounds so natural that many people couldn’t fathom the idea that the words aren’t the product of Stewart himself but, in fact, are a joint effort by Paul McCartney and his wife, Linda.
“It was just the result of another drunken night, I suppose,” said Paul McCartney, “It’s nice to write for someone like Rod because he’s got such a distinctive voice. You can hear him singing it as you are doing it. Certain people… well, they are just a bit boring, and you write boring songs for them!”
1. Peggy Lee – ‘Let’s Love’
There are only a couple of instruments and a vocal arrangement in the opening of this track, but they still make it sound so grand and atmospheric, a songwriting feat that could only be achieved by one of the best. Peggy Lee gives this McCartney track a completely new lease of life, cementing it as one of the most stunning tracks the Beatle has ever written.
McCartney gifted it to Peggy one day when he was going to meet her for dinner. He admitted he was torn between a song or a bottle of champagne. “I’d rather have a song anytime,” said Peggy. “I can always get some champagne, but it would be very difficult to get a Paul McCartney song – written especially for me.”
